Gage Baker of
Paradise Honors (Surprise, Ariz.) recently became the first player in high school football history to account for 10 or more touchdowns in two games, earning a spot in the latest entry to the MaxPreps National High School Football Record Book – most total offense touchdowns in a single game.
As a junior, Baker threw nine touchdown passes and had a rushing touchdown in a 70-3 win over Odyssey Institute. This year, Baker threw 10 touchdown passes in a 69-15 win over Show Low.
The two 10-touchdown total offense performances put Baker on a list of over 90 players who have accounted for at least 10 touchdowns in a game by rushing and/or passing. He is believed to be the first player to accomplished the feat more than once.
Gage Baker in action earlier this season in a win over Thatcher. (Photo: Kevin French)
The overall leader in the category is Arthur Smith of
Cozad (Neb.), who had a reported 25 touchdowns in Cozad's 201-7 win over Overton in 1921. The record is based on research by Jerry Mathers of Nebraska, who published a book about the history of high school sports in the state.
The actual facts about the game are a bit murky, however. Newspaper accounts note that Smith had 10 touchdowns rushing in the game but the report doesn't really say that Smith threw 15 touchdown passes. Stu Pospisil, another notable Nebraska historian, noted in an email to MaxPreps that he has never found a newspaper article that directly connects Arthur Smith to 15 touchdown passes.
There is reason to believe that there were a number of touchdown passes in the win since there were over 30 attempts, but who actually threw them (and who actually caught them) are not reported.
Yet the record has remained in the Nebraska High School Athletic Association record book and we will continue to post it as long as the state association maintains that it is official.
It's possible that Smith may have accomplished the feat more than once, but again the statistics are unclear. Cozad also beat Farnam 174-0 that same season and Smith is listed with scoring six rushing touchdowns in that game. Cozad is also listed with nine touchdown passes in the game but the newspaper report does not say that Smith threw all nine of them. Thus it is possible he was the first to have over 10 touchdowns in a game on two separate occasions, not Baker, but there is no official record book entry in that regard.
Others on the all-time list include Everett Horner of
Bozeman (Mont.), who set the national record for rushing touchdowns in a game with 16 in 1924.
More recent additions who appear high on the list include Justyn Martin of
Inglewood (Calif.) with 13 touchdown passes in 2021 and Peyton Bevel of
Stamford (Texas) with 12 touchdowns in 2018.
